Dragonshadow

Connoisseurs of fantasy adventure savor New York Times bestselling author Barbara Hambly's brilliant novels. Pitting good against evil with rare inventiveness and sophistication, her epic tales crackle with magic, humor, and nail-biting suspense--and feature heroes and villains as complex as they are engaging. Now Hambly returns to the world of her classic fantasy Dragonsbane with a stunning sequel that can also stand on its own, an unforgettable portrait of men, women, and dragons forced to fight an ancient evil in the air, on the ground . . . and in the depths of their very souls. In a world where most people live and die without glimpsing a single dragon, Lord John Aversin--with the help of his mageborn wife, Jenny Waynest--has fought and defeated two, earning the proud title of Dragonsbane. But there are creatures more terrifying than dragons. Demonspawn from a dark dimension have learned to drink the magic--and the souls--of mages and dragons alike, turning their victims into empty vessels. And now they've stolen John and Jenny's mageborn son, twelve-year-old Ian. In desperation, John seeks the help of the eldest and strongest dragon: Morkeleb the Black. Once Morkeleb tried to take Jenny from John. He gave her a dragon's body, a dragon's magic, and she gloried in it for a time. But in the end she became a woman again, rejecting Morkeleb for John. Now the three of them must overcome the anger and bitterness of the past and work together for the future of Ian and all that lives. But the demons have allies, too: a vast army poised to plunge the Realm into civil war. In the coming struggle, Morkeleb will sacrifice what he values most. Jenny will question everything she trusts and believes in. And John will embark on a perilous quest for the only things capable of defeating such powerful demons--even more powerful demons . . .

At various times in her life, Barbara Hambly has been a high-school teacher, a model, a waitress, a technical editor, a professional graduate student, an all-night clerk at a liquor store, and a karate instructor. Born in San Diego, she grew up in Southern California, with the exception of one high-school semester spent in New South Wales, Australia. Her interest in fantasy began with reading The Wizard of Oz at an early age and has continued ever since.<br><br>She attended the University of California, Riverside, specializing in medieval history. She spent a year at the University of Bordeaux in the south of France and worked as a teaching and research assistant at UC Riverside, eventually earning a master's degree in the subject. She now lives in Los Angeles.